mark jackson. serving time in bulgaria. letting you know about it.
"Not all those who wander are lost." [J.R. Tolkien]

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Media Blitz



Title: 'Mark Jackson: We are here to help people in need.'

Had a press briefing with the local media yesterday to show what I have done during my eight months in Shoumen. It ended up with three articles in the paper, one online (link), and a live TV interview. Fun stuff.

Also, thought you might like to see my mug next to some printed Bulgarian.

Hope all is going well,
Mark




Title:'Over 30 000 Dollars
for Municipal Projects'



Title: 'Babas sew socks for a US project.'

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Friday, January 21, 2005

On the 14th day of Christmas…


The little ones 'helping' on Christmas Morning.

After a fortnight of holidaying, I have no choice to write the condensed version of the goings on: At last count, there was
1 instance of my extended family heckling carolers (honestly)
2 trans-Atlantic flights
3 steak dinners
4 kids running/crawling around, old enough to play with now
5 really good friends I didn't see (next year, I promise)
6 pledge brothers taking Chicago by storm
7 members of the immediate family under one roof
8 high school friends at one table
9 piece sushi lunch (last meal before the flight - yum)
10 inches of snow
11 packs of Mac&Cheese powder in my carry on to Bulgaria
12 hot dogs
13 hour layover in Warsaw
and
14 days in the greatest country in the world
My flight landed in Sofia on Friday the 7th. After bumping in to another volunteer at the airport, we picked up a cab and headed to the hostel. Dropped stuff off, brushed teeth, changes socks and boxers, and headed out to play in Sofia. On Saturday, I took an afternoon train back to Shoumen. Six and a half hours later, I was home. It was a low key weekend of trying to get organized and over jet lag.

That Monday, I had the other volunteers over and we made the famous Mexican a la Shoumen. Chit chat followed by wolfing down dinner followed by more chit chat. The rest of the week was me getting work organized and trying not to fall asleep before 9pm (jetlag).

By this past week, my internal clock had settled its little disagreement with the sun and work was cruising along. We are winning projects left and right; which just means I have to get on the ball and make sure they go smoothly.





The girl and her parents.
The little girl.
An example of work.

This past Thursday was the start of a Roma holiday. And, we found out about a little girl – who is paralyzed from the waist down – whose parents didn’t have the money to get her any presents. After getting about 30 leva from some friends (and a college getting another 50 from people around the office) we were able to pick up some presents for her. About half of the money was spent on practical [read: boring] things like socks and school materials; while the other half was for fun stuff.

Toys and the paparazzi.

This 80 leva “project” (which is small potatoes compared to the other ones I have been working on) got the attention of the media. And, once again I had to wear a tie.

The little girl and I talked for a bit after the reporters had left:
Me: Hello.
Her: Hi.
Coworker: He is from America, do you know where that is?
Her: No.
Me: …umm, it is far away.
Coworker: [to me] I guess they have not studied geography yet. [to her] America is a very big country and just one town is as big as Bulgaria. And people only speak English there.
Me: Ok…Do you like your toy [I hold up a stuffed Tigger doll]
Her: Oh yes, I love Tigger.

So, I guess the marketing department of Disney will be pleased to know that the 8 year old demographic of Bulgarian villages with less than a thousand people has been well penetrated. America, apparently, still has some work to do.


Adventures in Eating…
Tuesday, we made some chicken in peanut sauce at another Volunteer’s apartment. Turned out pretty well. On Wednesday, we meet up for pizza with a couple British missionaries and they were more than happy to find some people to speak English with. And last night, we made Chicken ‘n Dumplings for some Bulgarians. I would give it a thumbs up.

This weekend is one of the volunteers birthday; so, Shoumen will be hosting a few other volunteers. Should be fun.

That is all from here,
Mark
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